Frolf Course!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 we set out to play Frisbee golf on Haverford’s slightly obscure Frolf course. We traced the first half of the course, then improvised a way to return back to the beginning from the halfway point. The course involved starting at Lloyd, following the sidewalk to the Duck Pond, following the nature trail, going in between two hazardous water features (the Duck Pond and strange pond attachment near the street), all the way back to Comfort, to Ryan Gym, then back to Lloyd. So, extensive course.
I was worried about two things primarily: the flimsy, typically Walmart one-dollar Frisbees, and the water. Turns out, they both enhanced the frolf experience significantly. For lack of money, we bought very, very cheap Frisbees. As a result, it was near impossible to aim with them, and they generally did not land more than 20 feet away from the thrower. Add a strong breeze, and throwing on the course was a barrel of monkeys. We revised the par by multiplying it times 6 or some other equally ridiculous number. About half of us got under par. My other concern, the water features, also added another entirely new dimension of joy. More than half the party had to fish out Frisbees with ridiculously lengthy sticks. I had to balance on a rock and stick my hand in algae-infested waters. I felt like I was a real frolf veteran after that. It was all part of the experience.
The party was relatively small, but made for a good team. We first started taking turns throwing our flamboyantly colored discs, but it eventually devolved into a free-for-all (we stopped counting, too) involving running and throwing, and occasionally hitting each other.
One notable portion of the frolf trip was the improvisation of the circling back from the halfway point. We reached the front of Founders and I suggested the typically route: throw around founders and aim for a Lloyd door. “But hey,” somebody suggested, “Why don’t we go through Founders.” So we did. It was actually a lot easier because there was no wind to interfere, but we kept having to hold the doors open. We popped out the other side of Founders and finished hitting a Lloyd door. Inside Frisbee is fun, sort of Calvin and Hobbes-esque.
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the trip. It was chaotic, fun, and I impressed Harrell with my clearly extensive frolf vocabulary. I want to try to course again with a real Frisbee and a few friends later on. I learned a lot of things about it, like the fact that Duck Pond water will probably give you a disease, and it’s a lot harder to land a Frisbee on a bench than I think. I was right next to it and seriously, four throws.